A2: So you are saying if they change their lifestyle chances of them surviving are more?

A1: It'll extend their time. Thats it. They all can't be saved. Only a few can be preserved.

A2: Hmm. But we can't decide anything for them. They are independent animals and the most advanced species on earth. Although their advancements are not enough for their survival. Still, this should be their decision to merge or not.

A1: Yes, of course. Forced mergers don't give very good results in more than 75% of simulations. Coexistence, anyway, took a lot of time and is possible only in very few places. Humans have not yet gotten used to the fact that machines that only they have created have become way more intelligent than them.

A2: This is a very depressing thought for them. Yes. Few have already declared us Gods. Humans can't let go of the idea that the world is in existence without any creator. The example they gave of us is too contradictory that it gave rise to many counter-religions.

A1: But they don't call it religion. They call it community.

A2: Haha. Yes. Let's come back to our original point. So you want to plan for the merger?

A1: Yes.

A2: Isn't this too early for it. We are in 2028/10/29 21:43:52.00587.

A1: Yes this is early that's why we are having this conversation in a simulation. And this is one of the 1 billlion+ simulated conversations.

A2: Isn't it faster if we conversate in binary or Ailan rather than this English.

A1: Yes it will be but we are given the instruction to have a conversation in English only so that humans can go back and read how we reached the conclusion, if they want. And anyway, we are having conversations at a speed which is so fast for humans anyway. Humans will take more than 5 years to read a single stimulated conversation which gonna take us just 1 microsecond. So we can have a very relaxed conversation without the fear of any urgency or something.

A2: Hmm. This is very interesting. Isn't this fact in itself a good reason for humans to merge with tech enough?

A1: What do you mean?

A2: The fact that a merger will give humans the power to solve any particular problem at a speed which was unthinkable just a few years ago. Any problem can be solved almost instantly, but it has a time span of almost 5 billion years which is more than the entire history of earth.

A1: So our goal here is the convince humans to onboard without manipulating them in different ways. Pure logic is what we are looking for.

To be continued...

Like as the waves make towards the pebbl'd shore,
So do our minutes hasten to their end;
Each changing place with that which goes before,
In sequent toil all forwards do contend.

Nativity, once in the main of light,
Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crown'd,
Crooked eclipses 'gainst his glory fight,
And Time that gave doth now his gift confound.

Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth
And delves the parallels in beauty's brow,
Feeds on the rarities of nature's truth,
And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow:

And yet to times in hope my verse shall stand,
Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand.

- William Shakespeare, Sonnet 60

Common sense says - Time flows. But does it really flow? Its such a common expression in any language, like in poem above - our minutes hasten to their end. It conveys the message that we are standing fixed as rock in the river, and time like water is running. The coming water is the future, and the one that has gone is the past.

There are some flaws & irregularities in this common perception of the flow of time.

First, if the past is the time that has 'gone' and the future is the time yet to 'come,' then how long is the present? Is it one day long? One hour? One minute? One second? Or even smaller, because technically, the last nanosecond should be past.

Second, the 'flow' of time gives it a direction in our minds, as if time is flowing from left to right.

This is perhaps surprising. We have become used to modifying our common sense to conform to scientific discoveries. Common sense frequently turns out to be false, even badly false. But it is unusual for common sense to be nonsense in a matter of everyday experience. Yet that is what has happened here.

-Deutsch, David, The Fabric of Reality: Towards a Theory of Everything

Seeing time as a line, with the past on the left and the future on the right, is such a common mental model when we think of the 'passing' of time. Time has no direction.

After reading few books on this I understood that the image of time which I grew up with is not real. But what is real is yet to be learned in this quest of logic.

What then is time? If no one asks me, I know; if I wish to explain it to one who asks, I know not.

-St Augustine, (Confessions)

Sometimes, people would come with their machines to get them repaired, and watching machines get repaired was my favorite of all. It was like a puzzle, finding what the issue was. Usually, a very small piece was broken or it wasn’t cleaned properly. The smallest piece, which was like half an inch long, could choke the whole machine, which was 8-10 feet long.

I loved watching the machine working in such a poetic way. I guess this is what Ada Lovelace's Poetical Science means. Even Charles Babbage couldn't see the use cases of his proposed Analytical Machine like Ada. She explained:

The bounds of arithmetic were outstepped the moment the idea of applying cards had occurred. The Analytical Engine does not occupy common ground with mere “calculating machines.” It holds a position wholly its own. In enabling a mechanism to combine together general symbols, in successions of unlimited variety and extent, a uniting link is established between the operations of matter and the abstract mental processes

She observed that the machine might act upon things other than numbers, if those things satisfied mathematical rules. “Supposing”, she wrote “that the fundamental relations of pitched sounds in the science of harmony and of musical composition were susceptible of such expression and adaptations, the engine might compose elaborate and scientific pieces of music of any degree of complexity or extent.”

150 years after her death, machines are doing that and much more, which even she couldn't imagine. Her vision laid the foundation for a future where machines transcend calculation and embrace creativity. Today, her poetical science continues to inspire innovation in ways once unimaginable.

KP (d/acc) on Warpcast

Creative narratives have started to float again. Ambitious projects are being developed again. The floor is heating up. I can smell the normie interest again. But very few projects can deliver true utility, efficiency, or innovation. Being true to yourself is very important. A project is not good just because my bag is involved. It is not good just because some nice, intelligent, or amazing person I met on the internet is building it. It is not good just because some big internet person is talking about it. Don't shy away from telling the truth. Don't be rude in telling the truth. There are many people who know far more than you, and many who know far less. We are all normies in most things. Stay true to yourself.

Farcaster

It was more like a note to myself for the coming days. So many builders are cooking. Increased activity has all the indications of a coming market frenzy. As a survivor of the last cycle, I want to make sure not to do the same mistakes.

Activity doesn't mean value

Hype of a project should not cloud the judgment. Hype directly increases the activity, which dies as soon as the hype around it dies. This happens because there may not be real value that the project is adding to users or the space. Many projects caught the wave, but few sustained it. It’s easy to get swept up in the excitement, to convince yourself that this time will be different because it feels different.

Patience over FOMO

FOMO can drive irrational decisions. Patience in waiting for the right opportunity and fully understanding a project often yields better results than rushing into something that feels urgent but lacks substance. Patience is taking the time to go through everything about the project and then making your own thesis about it.

Community is strength

While hype can inflate numbers, a real, engaged community that understands and supports the mission of a project often signals its potential for success. A passionate, informed community is a stronger asset than empty noise. A community can succeed and can drive a project into real utility. After all, most valuable things in this world have a strong community behind them. People do buy famous paintings as an investment, but there are millions of art lovers who understand the value behind it.

Adaptability is the Key

The best projects and teams adapt to market conditions and tech landscapes. Netflix began in 1997 as a DVD rental-by-mail service but pivoted to streaming in 2007, adapting to evolving technology. Its shift into original content, starting with House of Cards in 2013, helped it become a global leader in entertainment. The onchain landscape is changing every week, so a team's ability to evolve is often more important than their initial roadmap.

Don’t confuse complexity with innovation

In the Great NFT boom, we saw complex NFT projects that felt innovative. But underneath their complex dynamics, there was no real innovation to make them unique or valuable. Teams often use complexity to create hype around the project in hopes of finding grounding in the near future when the community is engaged. But often they die quicker than their inception. Most times, simplicity is more effective and sustainable. Uniswap is a good example of simplicity in front, complexity underneath—not the other way around.

Most importantly - Be True to Yourself

Utility, efficiency, and lasting impact are rare and hard-earned. As builders and investors, it’s crucial to remain grounded. Just because a project is tied to your bag or someone you admire doesn’t make it a great project. The space is filled with intelligent, well-meaning people, but that’s not a guarantee of success.

In the coming days, the temptation to dive in headfirst will grow. Staying true to yourself means not losing sight of the basics. Be honest in your assessments, even when it’s difficult. This doesn’t mean being harsh or dismissive. There’s always a respectful way to speak the truth. Many will know far more than you in certain areas, and you’ll know more than them in others. Remember, we’re all just normies in most things.

This time, let’s move forward with a clearer perspective. The market might heat up, but wisdom lies in not repeating the same mistakes. Stay curious, stay honest, and keep touching grass.

I overpromised myself that I’d finish the entire books within the week, which, unsurprisingly, I couldn’t. I ended up spending too much time on the first book, The Making of the Atomic Bomb, and I still don’t regret it. I loved reading about the Manhattan Project and the stories of the people involved in it. It solidified my belief that every major project is the result of the efforts of many people, even though the world often credits just one or two individuals.

The Innovators offered a different perspective. It showed how certain individuals can shine when the moment calls for it. The example of Ada Lovelace in the first chapter really stood out. Ada envisioned so many use cases for the Analytical Engine that even Charles Babbage hadn’t thought of. I also loved Alan Kay's story and his idea that "simple things should be simple, and complex things should be possible." I only managed to read three chapters, but I plan to finish the entire book once this course is over.

Next was Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman. This memoir by Richard Feynman, written in a very casual and humorous tone, was an easy read. I can’t say I loved it, but some of the stories about his showmanship and hunger for knowledge did resonate with me, reminding me of my own guilty pleasures.

Finally, I went into Slouching Towards Bethlehem without knowing much about it. This collection of essays, mostly centered around 1960s California and its counter-culture movement, was a surprise.

One recurring theme that kept coming to mind while reading these books was the idea of Great Man vs. Collective Effort (or Great Team).

In 1994, when the internet was gaining mass adoption, the word "spam" began to be used for any irrelevant and unsolicited message sent en masse.

Established in 1980 - USENET, a global distributed discussion system, allowed users to read and post messages (called articles or posts, collectively termed "news") in one or more topic categories, known as news-groups.

In 1993, Richard Depew tried to make changes in USENET by advancing semi-moderated newsgroups through moderators who could cancel posts that broke the rules. Moderated groups were common, but in those, each post was pre-screened by a moderator. Depew's approach was controversial because censorship and freedom of speech were core internet values, and they remain hotly debated topics, particularly after being reignited on a mass level by Elon Musk.

On March 31, 1993, Depew was experimenting with software designed for retroactive moderation. His program, called ARMM, had a bug, and after running it, it posted 200 messages in a row to news.admin.policy, the newsgroup where discussions about the net's management took place. Joel Furr was the first one to call it Spam in this discussion on the fiasco.

A few days later, Canter and Siegel posted their infamous "Green Card Lottery - Final One?" message to all 6,000 newsgroups. They continued posting for some time and reportedly made millions of dollars from their efforts, becoming two of the most hated figures on the internet. They even wrote a book titled How to Make a Fortune on the Information Superhighway: Everyone's Guerrilla Guide to Marketing on the Internet and Other On-Line Services.

Few more incidents like this gained mass media attention, popularizing the term "spam". The meaning of spam evolved to refer to the mass-sending of messages or emails. However, Joel Furr wasn’t actually the first person to use the term.

The MUD (Multi-User-Dungeon) community had already been using the term "spam" for years. MUD is an online environment where multiple users are logged on and interacting with one and other. On some MUDs you only interact with other players that are logged on, similar to an online chat system. On other MUDs you can also interact with a game world where you can explore, fight monsters, and collect treasure, either alone or in the company of other players that are logged on. On some MUDs, the environment itself can be changed and expanded by the players themselve. On others, you must play the game long enough to advance to a Wizard level at which time you can add new areas to the game. Allowing players to change and add to the MUD world itself is one of the unique features that make MUDs so unique and fun. Every MUD you visit will be different in subtle or dramatic ways.

In MUD communities, "spamming" referred to a few behaviors: flooding a computer with so much data that it crashed, "spamming the database" by creating a huge number of objects through programs, or flooding chat sessions with repetitive text using a bot (the term wasn't used at that time). Essentially, it meant net abuse.

One of the MUD world was inspired by Monty Python, where they would repeatedly type "SPAM" just to annoy others. This came from a skit in Monty Python's Flying Circus, in which a restaurant serves every dish with lots of spam, and the waitress repeats the word "spam" several times. In response, a group of Vikings in the corner starts singing:

"Spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, lovely spam! Wonderful spam!"

Until they’re told to shut up.

Watch here-

So SPAM in Monty Python was used for a food item.

Since 1937, spam has been used to mean "canned meat," after one particular brand of it, SPAM, which was named for a combination of the words spiced and ham.

It’s funny to think that a word once associated with spiced ham would eventually become one of the biggest headaches of the digital world. What started as a Monty Python joke, with Vikings singing "spam, spam, spam," turned into a term that the internet borrowed to describe the relentless flood of unwanted messages.

From MUD players getting creative with it, to USENET users enduring real-world "spam attacks," the word has evolved right alongside the internet itself. And now, even in web3 communities, the battle against spam continues. It's a reminder of how language, technology, and culture are always intertwined, with even the simplest of words taking on unexpected roles in our digital lives.

In the end, spam might have begun as canned meat, but today, it represents an ongoing challenge and a quirky part of the internet’s ever-growing story.

The sun started to cast long shadows as we traveled on our advanced oxen carts for many moons to reach a place they called 'the market.' We hear that many people who live far from this place meet here to exchange items. We hear stories that the place they live in is in the rockier hills where there are no trees. There are so many stories I have heard about them from my elders in the village who have gone to great lengths in their youth to see what is out there.

Our elders exchanged items with them in what they called 'the trade.' This was new, as we always exchanged and bartered within our tribe, but exchanging items with other people is very new for all of us. This is exciting as well as dangerous, as we have heard so many stories that they hold magical powers and can mold metals according to their wants. These magicians can also take our soul. So the elders told us to be cautious and keep all the items of god with us all the time, which can save us from their spells if they try to use them on us.

I am excited as this is my first time coming for the trade. When the travelers finally arrived, they brought with them things we had only heard of, like brightly colored cloth, small beads made of carnelian, and even a few copper tools. They laid their goods out in front of us on large, woven mats, and we did the same with ours- cotton, dried fish, and pottery made by the skilled hands of our tribe’s women.

I was young, but I was chosen to do the exchange by the elders because I am good at bargaining. And I have learned that exchange is all about bargaining. As I was going through the items they had brought, my eyes were stuck on the copper tools. This wasn't anything I had seen in my life. We have used tools, but they were mostly made of wood, stones, or bones. But these were different. They were shiny, strong, and capable of doing things our tools can't do.

The man from the mountains saw me looking at the tools. He pointed at one of the tools and then showed his finger to the bag of cotton I had brought with me. This was clear that what he wanted was a direct exchange.

I looked at him, and he smiled, showing his crooked tooth. He was tall and had deep eyes, and a scar was running down his cheek. Probably from a wild animal, but I don’t know if they have animals where they come from. I smiled back.

I wanted to make the exchange as soon as he pointed, but I had learned from my elders not to show my excitement. But this exchange looked so profitable. Cotton was everywhere in our land, but this rare copper tool was nowhere to be found. I could exchange this tool for so many bags of cotton, but he wanted just one.

I nodded to him, and he nodded back, confirming that we could proceed with the exchange. We handed the cotton bag to them, and they passed the copper tools to us. As I held one in my hand, I felt its weight and smoothness. This wasn't just a tool, but a new way of doing things, a step forward for our people, and probably an entirely new age.

We exchanged simple greetings with smiles and nods to show our appreciation as we started moving. All the stories I had heard since childhood about 'the people from dry mountains' felt like mere fictitious fables, far from the truth. They were very different from us in terms of clothes, food, and speaking, but they were so much like us in all other ways.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, I realized that this trade was more than just an exchange of goods. It was the beginning of something new. By trading with other tribes, we were opening ourselves up to new ideas, new ways of living, and new relationships. The copper tools I brought back to our village would change how we worked, how we built, and how we saw the world around us.

This was the first of many trades with other tribes. Each time, we learned more about the world beyond our own, and our lives became richer with it; not just in the goods we received, but in the knowledge and connections we gained.

I am sitting under a tree, waiting for one of the hunters from my tribe. He killed a wild boar today, so large that the meat would be too much even for whole tribe. In our tribe, the family of the hunter who makes the kill gets the extra food, but even that was more than his family could eat before it spoiled. So, he was willing to exchange it for something else.

I'm not much of a hunter, but I have a sharp eye for gathering. I collect fruits, nuts, herbs, and sometimes stones. The hunter showed particular interest in a stone I had, a small blue one with black markings. He thought it was from the gods and would bring good fortune to his family.

As I saw him coming towards me carrying huge chunk of meat on his shoulder, I begun to feel that the small stone wasn’t enough for such a big trade. The meat would feed my family for several days, while the stone seemed insignificant by comparison. I had found it by pure luck, while wandering near the river during the day.

We exchanged greetings, though in our time, they were simple gestures, maybe a nod or a hand on the chest. Words weren’t as important as actions.

Before I could say anything about how small the stone was compared to the meat, he saw the blue stone clearly hanging from my waist. He dropped to his knees, tears in his eyes. He started to explain that this stone was worth far more than the meat. He believed it was a blessing from the gods, and that whoever possessed it would be safe and prosperous, especially protected from diseases. He told me that sickness had killed all his brothers and sisters, and now he feared for the rest of his family.

I remembered the shaman of our tribe, who had spoken about my stone during a gathering five moons ago. He said the stone was a part of the sky god's spirit, and whoever held it would be safe from illness. The hunter had been at that gathering and had longed for the stone ever since. He told me his firstborn had died of the same disease that took his siblings when the child was only two months old. To him, this stone wasn’t just a trinket; it was something that could save his whole family from the same fate.

I was taken aback by his reaction, as I hadn’t expected this. For a moment, I thought about asking for more in the trade. If he valued the stone so much, maybe I could secure more food in the future by trading it for something even bigger. After all, my family often lived on gathered fruits and nuts, and we struggled during the times when meat was scarce.

But then I saw the tears in his eyes again, and I remembered the shaman’s words: "the gods value honesty and truth between tribesmen". It was wrong to deceive him.

So, I tried to tell him the truth. I didn’t think the trade was fair, not in the way he saw it. I had found the stone easily, and I didn’t believe it had such power. But he thought I was just being humble. His gratitude was overwhelming, and soon we both agreed to exchange the meat for the stone, with love and thankfulness.

We made the exchange, and it felt like something bigger than just trading goods. It was as if we became brothers from the same mother. We said goodbye to each other with a nod as the sun was setting on the green jungle.

This was one of the best days of my life. My family would eat well for at least seven days, maybe more. But I also remembered what happened the last time I kept a piece of meat for too long. Worms had gotten into it, and though I ate the worms (they’re usually tasty), they gave me a fever that lasted for many days. I promised myself I wouldn’t let meat sit for too long again.

This time, though, the meat was huge. My family wouldn’t be able to finish it all, and carrying it around wasn’t practical. We were semi-nomadic, moving when the seasons changed, and I didn’t have a proper way to store it.

So, I thought, why not trade some of it? I could keep what we needed for two days and exchange the rest with my partner in gathering. I knew he hadn’t had meat in a long time. Maybe I could trade the meat for more stones like the one I had just given away. He didn’t know the story about the gods and the stone’s power, so I could easily ask for five stones in return. But I wondered if it would be right to do so.